Courtney Stannard-USA

Courtney is striving to understand what it means to be alive and what it means to have died—What do we do when we are alive. And where do we go when we are dead? Currently, botanical medicines are her source of inspiration, specifically, Ayahuasca which in the Shipibo tradition provides a person the ability to enter the world of the spiritual life albeit only temporarily. She combines this botanical imagery with self-portraits in her artwork as a means of spiritual self-exploration. After transferring a digital black and white photograph of herself or a particular part of her body onto an 8×10” sheet of glass via a screen printing process, Courtney then etches by hand an image of an herb with a Dremel on the flipside of the glass. Not only is the artwork fragile—as are both glass and life—but it is transparent. To look through this etched piece of thin glass, you will see pieces of her as she is existing in the world.